Our summer went by so quickly this year. Here are a few more highlights!
We were absolutely obsessed with the Olympics...like our whole family staying up super late every night and watching TV for hours. It was so much fun!
My mom fed our Olympic frenzy with the coolest party one gorgeous Sunday night! It is so fun to have grandmas around who do the things you think about doing but never follow through on.
Olympic food!
Tons of games...watch out too, these peeps get competitive!
The cutest game that gave us lots of laughs.
I adore these littles. They are the cutest, and let's be honest, they come for the treats.
This game was CRAZY...but even crazier is the fact that my dad let fruit loops and shaving cream touch the grass :).
We LOVED our first experience at Top Golf. Such a fun place to spend an afternoon!
We love the new park by our house and have spent a ton of afternoons enjoying it!
Jace spent the first two weeks of August at the Center Point Theater camp. It was his first real taste of singing and acting and he completely fell in love with it all, and made some great new friends. He did an incredible job in their final performance, such a natural on stage with a great voice!
These boys got to go to the BYU tailgating party before the season started. They thought it was the coolest to meet the players and hear them speak. They are ready for a GREAT football season!
While the boys were enjoying a little football, I decided to go visit my grandma in the rest home. She had just been put there and was devastated and having a super hard time. When I stopped by, I was shocked by how sick she looked and acted. She was on oxygen and was in a hospital bed, turned to the wall. Her eyes were glazed over and she was refusing to talk. I was taken back and a wave of sadness rushed over me.
I tried to get her to talk for a bit and when she wouldn't, I didn't know what to do. So I curled up next to her on her bed and threw my arms around her and cried. I was able to share with her what a wonderful grandmother she had been to me...how kind and loving she always was. I told her about my favorite memories...how she taught me to serve by taking meals to someone almost every Sunday night, how she taught me to love to read as she was my librarian and later as we exchanged favorite titles. She taught me to love clothes and looking put together. She taught me sarcasm and wit and how to immediately endear people to you. I told her how she taught me to care as she listened to me as I told her all about my life. She was a constant, always there. She taught me to bring people together by serving them good food that fills their belly and soul. I told her how in awe I was that she cooked for so many people every, single, Sunday for years and years...and always seemed like she loved doing it. I reminded her about her Valentine cookies, the cashews and orange juice I always looked forward to, and cursed her for passing along her insatiable sweet tooth. I told her I was always jealous on Easter of the divinity eggs she gave me dad....they were so delicious.
I told her about all my favorite memories and how much I loved her and spending time with her and how I always knew how proud she was of me.
After crying to her, she started to pat my back and then snapped out of her trance and we spend the next 90 minutes chatting and remembering. I asked her questions about her time as a mom, and her face lit up. She absolutely loved being a mother and adored her children. She loved them with her whole heart and I could feel that. We watched the Olympics and teased each other. When I left I felt so blessed to have had that time with her. I had a feeling it might be one of the last times that she would really be able to connect and understand.
I was emotional as I left and felt overwhelmed with mortality, wishing everything and everyone I love could just stay young forever but being grateful for the plan and my testimony of eternal families.
These boys were CRAZY, and decided to do the Spartan Race up by Wolf Mountain. It was hot and sunny, dusty and dirty. The little boys rocked their short race, but Mike had no idea what he was getting into. It was completely INSANE. Carrying gravel up a mountain, obstacle after obstacle all with an injured calf. After 3.5 grueling hours he finished without dying which is truly a miracle. The rest of us were dying just waiting for him with no shade and no supplies all afternoon. No one was prepared, but in the end, grateful for a dad who still does hard things and who doesn't quit. He is an awesome examples to these boys.
Before the start of school, Jace put on an Olympics for the kids in our neighborhood. He did an awesome job with tons of events, trophies and prizes. Everyone had a blast!!!
I had promised the kids that we would go to Lagoon this year....we have lived next door to it for 3 years and had never visited, so this time I made good on my promise. It was hot and crowded but everyone loved it!
Parker had a great time with golf this summer, especially since he took it with all of his best buddies. They all ended up finishing with trophies for either their net or gross score.
Lots of hours this summer watching Parker in tournaments. Makes some of us a little crazy :).
We were so sad about our apples this year! Our tree was finally producing and we didn't realize we were supposed to spray...so our beautiful apples ended up being filled with earwigs. We will know better next time.
Parker has been so fortunate to be on great teams with awesome boys. Here they were enjoying an afternoon at Boondocks before the start of a tournament.
It has been so much fun being a guest on our Utah news shows. Here I am on Fox 13 The Place chatting about the first day of school. Loved that segment!
Parker guest played for another team during the Strikers tournament. It is fun that others are so eager to have them join them!
On the last weekend before school, we took our boys to Provo for a little tour of our very favorite place. They loved it as much as we did! We need to do it way more often, we didn't even get to most of the spots we wanted to show them!
This is our whole family in one of the carrolls at the Harold B Lee Library. While we were there I told them the story about how while we were sitting there, Mike told me he was planning on going to France for a study abroad the next semester and asked me if I would wait for him. I said, "Wait? Like, not date anyone else?" He said, "Yes." and I told him..."No, I won't wait, we just started dating, but if I am around when you get home, we can try and pick back up where we left off." He chose not to go and the rest is history! The boys loved the library and loved the story!
After BYU, we visited one of Mike's old mission companions, Garrett Johnson and their family farm. My boys were meant to be raised on a lot of land with a lot of toys and animals. They loved every second of it. That night was one of the times, as I watched them do and try so many new things, I was so proud of all of them. They were kind, polite and conversant with our friends. They were brave, independent and interested in everything that was going on and everything they were able to try. I stepped back and thought, "Wow! Our boys are really awesome. I am so grateful they are mine."
Not even sure when this photo happened, but it is awesome.
One of the very last things we did before the start of school was go to the Hale Center Theater to watch Beauty and the Beast. Grandma was so nice to get us all tickets. It was an amazing show and all my kids loved it. After the first 15 minutes Pierce turned to me and said multiple times, "Mom, ths is really awesome." His face was priceless...until it got a little too long, but he was pretty awesome for a 4 year old boy!
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